1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for thickening hair, or thickening method, and to a related separator device for receiving hair for the application of a thickening assembly, with hair extensions suitable for use in said method. The invention further relates to an assembly of hair extensions for thickening hair and to an applicator for said assembly, suitable for use according to said method.
For thickening hair hereinafter it is meant the lengthening and/or the increasing of volume of human hair, by the application of hair extensions to the receiving hair. For hair extension it is meant a hair extension consisting of a plurality of human or artificial hairs, apt to be handled as single lengthening unit and to be applied on receiving hair by virtue of a connecting element.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various systems are already known for thickening hair volume and also for lengthening hair. These systems in general use hair extensions or locks, having a natural or artificial origin, which are then fixed to the hair using methods that, based on the proposed application methods, determine the acceptance and satisfaction on the part of the user who has requested such treatment.
Another aspect that helps to increase the satisfaction with this kind of treatment is the speed of implementation.
The known systems include a step wherein the hair extensions are connected to the hair of the user. During this step, the hair extensions can basically be sewn, bonded or knotted to the user's hair but, following these systems, the thickening or the lengthening requires a period of time too long to be carried out, considering that each single hair extension requires a manual and precise operation.
Other methods are known for creating a connection between hair extensions and the hair, requiring the use of external elements such as clasps, combs, grips, etc. These elements can be used to attach hair extensions of large dimensions to the receiving hair of the user, but they have the great inconvenience that the connection is clearly visible and can be felt by the user, who receives an uneasiness feeling from them.
Amongst other known means, there are those that permit size-reduced extensions to be connected to receiving hair. These methods, that require the use of adhesives, small clasping elements, etc., give fairly good results, but in all cases long application sessions are required since the operator must connect each individual hair extension, which cannot be of larger size as otherwise the connection would be visible to the user and to the observers.
Similar difficulties are present with those methods where an adhesive is used, applied to the connection in the method implementation, for example as in the method described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,387 (Megna) which is particularly burdensome in terms of time, since the adhesive is dispensed in a liquid and hot state at the end of each hair extension to be fixed. Besides, the operator should manipulate a hot glue with the fingers, with an understandable discomfort. Also U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,867 (Barrington) describes such a kind of method, in which the adhesive is provided on the application site in a predetermined quantity from a gun-shaped dispenser or other applicator. However, in Barrington, the adhesive is confined within a heat shrinkable tubing, allowing setting without its sticking to the other hair.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,748 (Trimarchi) proposes the use of a thermocurable adhesive, which accordingly requires a heating after a cold application.
However, these examples of application with adhesives require the complex manipulation of several elements: supplemental hair, adhesive, tubing, gun, entailing also an increase in time.
In addition, the cured adhesive forms a sort of ball or skirt which is distinctly noticeable at the touch, decreasing the easiness degree of the method, and which can also be observed, thwarting the desired aesthetical improvement deriving from the thickening.
Another example of this method, which has gained a hold for the thickening and/or the lengthening extension to extension, is described in JP 03152205 (Aderans Co. Ltd.) and in other subsequent patents referred to improvements of this technique, e.g. the improvement developed by the inventor of the present invention, disclosed in South African Patent ZA 93/5214 or in German Patent DE 196 26 107 C.
These documents describe a thickening element and the related method of application wherein a hair extension is fixed to the hair with the application of a thermoplastic adhesive. In this context, it is clear that the application is manual and that therefore it may not be uniform from extension to extension.
The forcedly manual implementation of these known methods therefore implies a series of drawbacks. First, the operator must have a great experience and practice in this technique, to be able of implementing properly made connections, a condition that obviously is not always possible. In addition, apart from experience, it will be extremely difficult to produce uniform connections: they will vary greatly as they will not be positioned exactly along the lines proposed for the hair thickening, and they will vary in quality and size.
All this means that the quality of the finished work will not be optimal, will be more exposed to wear, with imperfections that cannot be rectified, increased costs due to very long application times and the difficulty in locating experienced operators.
In addition, again the cured adhesive forms a sort of ball or skirt which is distinctly noticeable at the touch, decreasing the easiness degree of the method, and which can also be observed, thwarting the desired aesthetical improvement deriving from the thickening.
A further improvement was described in International application WO 02/098250 in the name of the present Applicant and designating the same inventor of the present invention.
In this document, a method and an assembly of hair extensions is disclosed for increasing hair volume, by means of the application of a set of extensions in one step, exploiting an adhesive tape to arrange the connecting elements in the right position and then activating them simultaneously.
This system, though allowing to greatly speed up the application of hair extensions, does not solve the problem of the imperfect connections resulting of unsatisfactory dimensions and that can also be seen.
Similar remarks may be made on the basis of International application WO 2004/023910 in the name of the present Applicant and designating the same inventor of the present invention.
To this drawback is also related the problem of determining the exact quantity of receiving hair for each adhesive-based connecting element. It is understood that the behaviour of the connecting element will be different according to said quantity, and therefore it is possible that, in the same application, from adjacent connecting elements different effective connections result.